Help prevent substance abuse, counsel people with addictive disorders, and provide other services to people suffering from addiction when you graduate with an Addiction Counseling master’s degree program from JWU.
This 18-month full-time program* has two cohort starts each year (fall or spring). Classes meets in the late afternoons and evenings. This flexible schedule allows opportunities for students to work at their field placements during the day and on weekends. Classes are offered in multiple modalities, including face to face, hybrid and remote. The majority of courses are taught by full-time faculty who represent diverse areas of expertise including clinical, school, addictions and substance abuse, grief and rehabilitation counseling and social work.
Learn clinical skills by turning theoretical foundations into positive, ethical client interaction and intervention. The counseling training laboratory and clinical field experience sites provide students with hands-on training by licensed professionals.
The 60-credit program includes 12 core courses, 4 electives, a practicum and an internship. This fieldwork puts professional knowledge into practice, starting with a 100-hour practicum followed by an internship under the supervision of clinical professionals.
*A part-time option is available. Part-time students follow a study plan of two courses per semester, completing the program in 3 years.
Individual states may require specific licensing or professional certification in addition to earning a degree in order to practice in the field. For more information, review Licensure & Professional Certification Disclosures.
Overcoming the power of addiction is no easy achievement. More than any other areas, the addiction counseling program focuses on helping people change.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR JESSICA PAULHUS, PHD, LMHC, LCDP, CCS, CAGS
Sample Courses
Advanced Career Counseling
Counseling Practicum
Testing & Assessment in Counseling
Counseling the Chemically Dependent & Their Families
As a dual licensed clinician who specializes in both mental health and substance use, Paulhus has experience working in a variety of settings, including home care, outpatient counseling, and crisis work.
Assistant Professor Giresunlu’s research interests include counselor and supervisor development and practices in integrated behavioral health settings.
Much of Assistant Professor Smarinsky’s clinical work has focused on trauma treatment and prevention in children and adolescents.
JWU Presents at Peer-to-Peer Counseling Education Conference
Associate professors Evan Smarinsky and Yesim Giresunlu, core faculty in JWU Providence’s Counselor Education department, recently presented at the North Atlantic Region for Counselor Educator and Supervision (NARACES) Conference.
Their session, “Creating a Culture of Accountability: Recommendations for CES Programs to Improve Gatekeeping,” was well attended. Smarinsky has followed up with a related publication for counseling professionals in the Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision:
Smarinsky, E. C., Brown, C. L., & Popejoy, E. (2023). “Recommendations for Counselor Education and Supervision Programs to Improve Gatekeeping Processes Developed from Doctoral Student Experiences.” Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision, 17(1), 6.
Therapy that Leverages Nature’s Healing Properties
A member of JWU Providence’s Clinical Health Counseling program’s first graduating cohort, Danielle Gagnon ’16 M.S. uses nature as a synergistic component of her counseling strategy. Throughout her career, she has practiced experiential therapeutic modalities and integrating the healing nature of the outdoors.
Gagnon currently practices in Utah, where she became a licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor. In the last few years, she has primarily worked with adolescents who have struggled with anxiety, depression, trauma, substance use and emotional regulation.
Gagnon has trained and is certified in many clinical modalities, including Brain Spotting, Trauma-Focused CBT and SMART Recovery; she is also Safe Zone-certified for working with the LGBTQ+ population. She believes these forms of therapy create a space to allow students to access negative memories or feelings, and then release them, allowing the brain and body to heal.
She has recently joined Evoke Therapy in Utah as a wilderness therapist. Wilderness therapy is an alternative therapy that takes place outdoors; it has been shown to help patients overcome addiction, psychological disorders, stress, and past trauma by exposing them to challenging situations in nature.
When not at work, Gagnon focuses on travel and outdoor adventures, including road trips, hiking, kayaking, and other forms of wilderness exploration.
JWU MS Counseling Graduate Opens Connecticut Practice
Morgan Ajello, MS, LPC, NCC, a graduate from Cohort 1, is a licensed professional counselor who has opened Omata LLC, a private practice based in Mystic, Connecticut.
Post-graduation counselors must accumulate 2500 to 3500 clinical hours (depending on the state), 100 weekly clinical supervision hours, and pass the NCMHCE exam before they can apply for state licensure. This process takes a minimum of 2 years. Graduates from Cohorts 1-3 continue to work toward licensure. Currently 13 graduates have received their licenses, 2 in Connecticut, 1 in New Jersey and 10 in Rhode Island.
Faculty Contact
Cheryl Almeida, Ph.D. Counselor Education Department Chair 401-598-2247 Email
JWU’s M.S. in Clinical Mental Health and Addiction Counseling programs are housed in the College of Arts & Sciences’ Counselor Education department.
Enrollment Since RI is our largest feeder state, this site is reviewed annually for updates. As of the writing of the below report, 52 graduates have passed the NCMHCE credentialing exam and are Licensed Mental Health Counselors in Rhode Island. Two graduates are Licensed Professional Counselors in Connecticut. This number (54) represents 36% of the 151 eligible graduates from the first six cohorts. (Cohort 6 became eligible in 2023).